During the evening of the 21st December 1941 the crew of this aircraft were undertaking a night-time local flying training exercise around the airfield of Silloth where they were based. The flight was a regular type of training flight that were commonly undertaken by airmen training at No.1 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit in preparation for the aircrew being posted to an operational Coastal Command squadron. Possibly down to a navigational error after taking off from Silloth the aircraft later left the immediate area of where the flight was to have been carried out and radio contact was also lost. The aircraft was later seen flying in the area of St.Bees and it was not flying high enough as it flew inland towards high ground. At around 21.35hrs it flew into the ground on Dent Fell, Cleator, the wreckage caught fire and all on board were sadly killed. A search was carried out but the local police on the report that the aircraft had crashed and it was located at around 01.30hrs the following morning. The area of the crash site was open fell at the time but pine trees were planted across the site in the years after the war and a wide forest track bulldozed through the crash site. Nothing more is currently known about this incident. Technically this aircraft crashed just outside of what became the National Park area, but it is still on high ground so I have included it on this list.
Pilot - F/O Stuart Daniel John Dalgleish RAF (44133), aged 28, of Edinburgh. Buried Hertford Cemetery, Hertfordshire.
Observer - Sgt Earl Douglas Parrish RCAF (R/77526), aged 23, of Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada. Buried Silloth Cemetery, Cumbria.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Charles Harry Page RAFVR (1359485), aged 29, of Liberton, Edinburgh. Buried Morningside Cemetery, Edinburgh.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt John William Leadill RAF (1325761), aged 26, of Scarborough, Yorkshire. Buried Woodlands Cemetery, Scarborough, North Yorkshire.
Earl Parrish was born on 7th July 1918 in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada and was the son of Vernon Wood and Margaret Anne (nee MacLeod) Parrish. His service record gives the spelling of his name as "Earl" but elsewhere it is quoted as being "Earle". Both his parents were born in Nova Scotia but had moved to Alberta before Earl was born. His father Vernon was a mechanical engineer and would register a Canadian Patent for a fuel pump for use in land burning machines in 1925. Earl's RCAF service record hold documents showing he was a clever young man and did well at high school, doing particularly well at mathematics. After leaving high school in 1935 he began working as a junior ledgerkeeper for the Royal Bank of Canada; initially at Medicine Hat but latterly at Spirit River, Alberta where he worked as a teller for the same bank He enlisted for RCAF service on 26th October 1940 in Calgary, Alberta for aircrew duties and trained as an air observer in Canada. He received good assessments in Canada and was awarded his Air Observers' Badge on 7th July 1941. On arrival in the UK in late September 1941 he had trained at No.3 School of General Reconnaissance before being posted to 1 (C)OTU at Silloth of 10th November 1941. He was buried at Silloth on 24th December 1941.
John Leadill is commemorated on two gravestones in Woodlands Cemetery, Scarborough. With him being local to where I live I have searched for his obituary in the local newspapers but have yet to locate one.
Stuart Dalgleish trained at RAF Halton. He was granted a commission to the rank of P/O on probation on 11th July 1940 (with seniority of 2nd May 1940 and was promoted to F/O on 11th July 1941 (with seniority of 2nd May 1941). He appears to be buried with his wife in Hertford who also died in 1941. Stuart Dalgleish is also commemorated on his parents grave in Musselburgh, Scotland.
Over the course of various weekends in 2015 and 2016 Ade Harris, Mark Sheldon and I searched a huge area of dense woodland on Dent to locate this crash site and finally the site was located in May 2016 with small fragments of the aircraft being located on the surface.
One of the first signs that we were close to the crash site, a reasonably large section of the aircraft was found sticking out of the pine needles.
Small fragments found in grass at the crash site.
Another large section found below the crash site.
A small piece with a readable part number. The raised lettering on the right to edge states "169119-A", the "16..." prefix is common to Lockheed Hudson part numbers and proves we hadn't located Hawker Hurricane P2877 which also crashed on Dent. The "(821)" number on the left is a stamped inspection number.
Hudson AM624 was built to a British Purchasing Corporation contract and delivered to the UK in May 1941. It was received by 22 MU on 16th June 1941 and was then taken on charge by No.1 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit on 31st July 1941 at Silloth. As a result of the crash on 21st December 1941 Cat.E2/FA damage was the damage assessment and it was struck off charge on 27th December 1941.